I have a quick question, Who has put a Gear Vendors on a 1969 400 stage1 ? Just finishing a frame off to a bone stock car and the 3.64 rear just wants another gear. I did not want to change out the original trans, so I just purchased a Gear Vendors unit. Curious if any one else has done this. What can I expect form this unit. I have 7 weeks before it gets here. Thanks
I put one on a ss 1500 big block pickup truck, it was very straight forward, great tech support....... .78 od ratio so a 22% drop
My son added the Gear Venders unit to his Switch Pitch 400. He said the instructions were easy to follow and it works great. He is running 3:90 rear end gears and has a 4,000 SP stall converter.
Adding a GV to any THM400 is very straight forward. I've had mine since 2006. I am currently running one of JW's 9.5" converters, 3.73 gears, and a 28" tire. Final drive is 2.76.
That sounds like a total win? Sounds like I should start saving a couple bucks for the GV overdrive. My car needs PLENTY of work before the OD becomes a priority but I think it'd be pretty nice
Yes, the combination works really well. The converter is efficient enough to deal with the final drive ratio. It is responsive everywhere. Drops my RPM on the highway by 600 RPM.
Larry, what is your RPM at 70 mph? Right now with a JW converter and 3.08’s I am at 2800 or so at 70. I believe you are running 3.73’s which would be what I am looking to change to when adding a GV. Not trying hi hijack the thread. Thanks Cliff
Larry, I'm considering the GV for the future. Did you have your factory driveshaft cut to fit behind the GV or did you have another shaft fabricated?
I had another driveshaft made. It was cheap enough. The shop I used told me how they wanted me to measure.
How does package GV package address the need to extend the stock speedometer cable and do they provide the correct drive gear so we don't have to change the driven gear?
It's unnecessary to extend the cable. There is an extension cable because of the signal generator. You can see it in this picture, part number 9 and 10.
The GV instruction manual has a chart for speedo gears. It is based on the GV 15 tooth DRIVE gear. I use a 40 tooth Black gear, 3.73 and 28" tire.
I believe it is more like 14". There are a load of magazine articles on GV installs, https://www.gearvendors.com/magazines.html Read up, I'm sure the info is in there. Edit: 1968 Chevelle install, https://www.gearvendors.com/popularhotrodding-sep08.html,
Wow, I didn't think it was that much. My Wife always said I was bad at estimating how long things are. That looks like a really nice upgrade if you can make it work.